The Draft is six days away and there’s no real consensus on who the Nets like. Sure Mikel Brown Jr. appears to be gaining ground but who knows if he’ll be there at No. 6.
So, let’s talk about free agency!
In one of his occasional intelligence notes, Hoopshype’s Mike Scotto talked about a couple of moves Brooklyn could move, including a possible trade of the Nets’ senior player, the only one who was around for the Clean Sweep, the arrival and departure of the Big Three and tank, Nic Claxton. He starts
by sharing what he knows about the Hornets interest in the Blazers Donatus Sabonis, then looks at who else might be appealing to Charlotte.
However, Charlotte has been resistant to including one of their two first-round picks in this year’s draft (No. 14 and 18) in Sabonis trade talks. Initial talks between the Kings and Hornets surrounding Sabonis and Charlotte’s unwillingness to include a first-round pick in the talks were first reported by Sam Amick of The Athletic.
With Charlotte considering a starting-caliber center upgrade, other centers besides Sabonis are on their radar, including Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton, league sources told HoopsHype. In addition, it’s worth noting that the Nets have expressed interest in Hornets free agent guard Coby White in the past when he was on the Chicago Bulls, sources said.
For the record, Claxton, 27, has two seasons left on his four-year, $97.0 million contract — $23.3 million in 2026-27 and $21.1 million in 2027-28. In 69 games last season, he averaged 11.7 points and 6.9 rebounds, both near the low end of his seven-year career, as well at 1.1 blocks, his lowest production since his rookie year when he played only 16 games. On the other hand, his 3.7 assists were nearly double his previous yearly high.
White, a year younger, is an unrestricted free agent so we’re not talking about a trade unless it’s a sign-and-trade which carries its own restrictions going forward. White last season made about $10 million less than Claxton but but missed 32 games in an injury-plagued season, the most of his career, while playing only 25 minutes a game, the lowest in his seven years. His numbers were in line with his career, averaging 17.4 points on 45/26/82 splits.
What the Hornets expecting when they traded Collin Sexton and Ousmane Dieng plus three second-round picks was the player White had been the previous two seasons, when he averaged 19.7 points, 4.8 assists and 4.1 rebounds in 34.8 minutes while hitting 45.o percent of his shots and 37.3 percent of his 3-pointers.
While intriguing on its face, the switch-out doesn’t seem to make sense for the Nets, absent another move or moves. They’d be giving up their only rim protector for a player who at the moment doesn’t seem to fit with their timeline, considering how many playmakers they took in last year’s Draft and how they may add to that number on June 23.
Scotto also joined other writers, like Dan Woike and Tim Bontemps in talking about Nets interest in the Lakers Austin Reaves.
Reaves has put himself in a position to earn a projected salary of over $40 million per season. Reaves can sign for up to a five-year, projected $239 million deal with the Lakers or a four-year, $177 million deal with another team.
The Athletic’s Dan Woike mentioned the Brooklyn Nets are expected to offer Reaves a four-year, max deal and also reported the Atlanta Hawks and Detroit Pistons are interested in pursuing Reaves.
Brooklyn has Reaves on their radar and has the clearest path to offering a max contract outright in free agency with cap space.
Reaves first step will have to be declining his $14.9 million player option next year, which is seen as a formality. Once that happens, we may see some action.
